NOVONEWS
ISSUE 008 NOVEMBER 2021
NovoNews
Novocastrians are being encouraged to enjoy the Newcastle Ocean Baths this summer before the iconic 1920s pool closes to undergo significant upgrades. See page 2
NovoSociety
Lord Mayoral Q&A series The NSW Local Government elections will be held on December 4. In this series, we dive into some of the Newcastle candidates’ policies, priorities and plans. See pages 6 to 11
University of Newcastle researchers have received more than $1M in funding from the Heart Foundation, helping to support their studies into the causes, prevention and treatment of heart disease. See page 13
NovoCulture
Community can’t afford to drop its guard against COVID: Craven Singer-songwriter Natalie Davis will release her first EP on November 5. See page 23
NovoSport
Lambton cricketer Aidan Cahill has received a Basil Sellers Scholarship, allowing him to pursue his dream of becoming an elite cricketer. See page 24
As Newcastle slowly starts to reopen after lockdown, health experts are urging the community to stay vigilant, socially distance and continue to follow COVIDsafe rules. Hunter New England Health COVID-19 medical controller Dr Paul Craven said it was “unbelievably good” to see so many people vaccinated. He said the more people vaccinated, the less pressure there was on the healthcare system. “Last year, we had general fear because we had never seen anything like it before, and people were really scared, but now our staff are vaccinated and fit tested for protective masks and are all properly trained to care for patients with COVID-19,” Dr Craven said. “It’s a totally different feel from last year. Vaccines have made the most
significant impact out of anything. We are seeing way fewer people on ventilators. “The majority of the people coming into hospital are unvaccinated.” Dr Craven said 65 per cent of people who had presented to Hunter New England Health hospitals with COVID-19 were unvaccinated, 25 per cent had only one dose, and 15 per cent were doublevaccinated. “The vaccine is working amazingly. It is keeping most people out of the hospital. But there are still people in our community who are chronically ill with other conditions, which makes them vulnerable to COVID-19,” he said. Dr Craven said the region’s vaccine rates had nearly hit 80 per cent double dose and 92 per cent single dose, however the Hunter region was still contributing to almost a quarter of the state’s daily COVID-19 cases.
“I think it would be fair to say the Hunter region still has large numbers of people who are testing positive for See page 12
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Newcastle’s COVID-19 updates - See page 11
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